South Korean Star Cha Eun-woo To Make Hollywood Debut With ‘Kpop: Lost In America’

Boy band member Cha Eun-woo is set to mark his foray into Hollywood via the film “Kpop: Lost in America.”

Produced by CJ Entertainment and Hollywood producer Linda Obst, the movie will also star Rebel Wilson and Charles Melton and will start filming by fall, according to Deadline.

Cha, also known as Lee Dong-Min, is a popular singer from the six-member boy band ASTRO who debuted in 2016 under the Fantagio label. ASTRO has released three studio albums, 10 EPs, and two special albums including "Summer Vibes," which entered the top 10 of Billboard’s World Albums Chart in 2016. In the same year, Billboard named ASTRO as one of the 10 Best New K-pop groups of the year.

Aside from music, Cha is also one of South Korea’s most prolific actors having starred in a vast array of TV dramas and films including “True Beauty,” “My ID is Gangnam Beauty,” “Decibel” and “Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung.” The actor is also one of the most sought-after endorsers in South Korea.

“K-pop: Lost in America” is about a K-pop group who found themselves stranded in Texas just a few days before making their American debut at New York’s Madison square garden. Having no money, phones, or means for transportation, the group must find a way to New York City while navigating their own differences amid the various difficulties along the way. In the process, the group learns to love Texas and makes new friends.

The movie’s production team is currently holding auditions for several roles in the movie including the actors who would play the members of the idol group, according to Koreaboo.

CJ Entertainment is a film production company under South Korean entertainment mogul, CJ ENM. In May 2021, CJ ENM said it will invest over $4.5B in content creation in the next five years following the global success of its film, Oscar winner “Parasite.” The entertainment company is also the creator and franchisor of the mystery game show, “I Can See Your Voice” which is being aired in many countries.

“We will become a comprehensive entertainment company through diversifying content creating systems and meeting consumers’ demands on a real-time basis. And we will compete with global platform and media powerhouses,” CEO Kang Ho-sung said during a conference in Seoul, as reported by Deadline.